Rating

Description

When a visit to the Tower of London triggers an overwhelmingly real vision of a beheading that occurred centuries before, Cole Ryan fears she is losing her mind. A mysterious boy, Griffon Hall, comes to her aid, but the intensity of their immediate connection seems to open the floodgate of memories even wider.

As their feelings grow, Griffon reveals their common bond as members of the Akhet—an elite group of people who can remember past lives and use their collected wisdom for the good of the world. But not all Akhet are altruistic, and a rogue is after Cole to avenge their shared past. Now in extreme danger, Cole must piece together clues from many lifetimes. What she finds could ruin her chance at a future with Griffon, but risking his love may be the only way to save them both.

Full of danger, romance, and intrigue, Transcendence breathes new life into a perpetually fascinating question: What would you do with another life to live?

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Review

Fans of both historical fantasy and vampires will love TRANSCENDENCE, despite the fact that neither are between it’s pages. With just the right mix of mythology, adolescent love, and adventure, Omololu’s story was both thought provoking and entertaining. While I would have liked a climax that relied a little less on bad decisions on the main character’s part, that was more than balanced by the wry wit and well written development Cole had displayed earlier. I definitely fell for our hero, from his credible reason for avoiding a romance with Cole to the very sexy potential of his powers, TRANSCENDENCE worked for me as both a romance and a paranormal YA.

I really enjoy when an author acknowledges how immortality would change a character’s behavior, and the past lives of the Akhet is one of the most intricate situations I’ve ever seen a book address. While vampires may live through many generations and take on multiple identities, that is nothing compared to an Akhet being born into different lives, relationships, and genders. Even better, Omololu doesn’t use past lives as an excuse to make Cole and Griffon’s romance a foregone conclusion. Rather than being soul mates, past experiences cause unique challenges to their present day romance. Though the dramatic climax was my least favorite part of the story (and I saw “the big reveal” coming from a mile away), I did appreciate the details Omololu built into the conclusion. Whether the origin of Cole’s necklace is meant to plant the seed for another book or just support the complexity of living with knowledge of past lives, I’m a satisfied reader either way.

TRANSCENDENCE is one of the best examples of a contemporary paranormal YA that I’ve read in a long time, both for the intricate magic and well written romance. Though Cole has a few annoying moments (vacillating between awareness of how much her parents have invested in her cello career and whining about needing a larger allowance, for example), there was nothing that overpowered the story for me. Despite some minor detracting moments, I’m eager to read more about Cole or the world of the Akhet. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for other books by Omololu, in whatever incarnation they may appear.

2 Responses to “Early Review: Transcendence by C. J. Omololu”

Thanks for sharing ! Very excited to see diversity on a YA cover. Way to go author and publisher on that one.

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ATUF Rating System

Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.
Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.
A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.
A few good points, but with significant flaws. Library/swap/borrow if you want.
I had to force myself to finish it. Fatally flawed on multiple levels.

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